Overview on Plumbing

The right home improvement products, techniques, and services:
Contractors, home improvement stores, and specialty shops in your area may not yet have a complete familiarity with the ‘green’ opportunities, products, system integration, and overall savings potential. So, you may get some resistance, since people in general are typically more comfortable recommending something that they are already familiar with rather than something new. To help break the inertia, use the information across this website like our Return on Investment Master ROI Table. Also feel free to post a question in our forum on the message board about a particular need for your home relative to your area. Our team has spent multiple years aggregating research from public and private sector performance reports and from manufacturers and homeowners across the country in order to provide you with the perspective you may need to see the initial payback and long term advantages. Environmental enthusiasts and leading institutions like the American Institute of Architects and the National Association of Realtors, see the value and link into our resources to support their members.

The Green Home:
For your overall home improvement, you can save money, improve your family’s health, and save the planet. Find out for free how much it will cost to do different types of home improvement in your home from a qualified and member approved contractor in your area. Get a FREE Quote . Plus, regardless of the size and scope of your home improvement project, save money and keep your home clean with the top rated chemical free and concentrated Green Home Cleaning Products .

Category Checklist:
Make sure to consider the latest Home Improvement products and services. If you are doing the work yourself or planning on working with a home improvement contractor use this checklist below as a guide to review and ask questions about the preferred products, details, and installation techniques related to:

1. Bath Tubs and Showers: Bath Tub and Shower Design, Outdoor Showers, Shower Curtains, Shower Doors, Shower Pans, and Steam Showers
2. Drains and Faucets: Drain Cleaners, Drain Cleaning, Faucet Installation and Repair, Household Plumbing Projects, Low flow Kitchen and Bath Faucets, and Plumbing supplies and Techniques.
3. Hot Water Heaters: Drain-Water Heat Recovery, Energy Star Water Heaters, Flash and On Demand Water Heaters, Gas and Electric Water Heaters, Heat Traps, Hot Water Heater Timers, hot Water Pipe Insulation, Solar Water Heaters, Tankless Water Heaters, and Water Meter Reading.
4. Sinks: Bathroom sinks, Corner Sinks, Farmhouse Sinks, Kitchen Sinks, Laundry and Utility Sinks, Pedestal Sinks, Stainless Steel and Copper Sinks, Under Mount Sinks, Vessel Sinks, and Wet Bar Sinks.
5. Swimming Pool Plumbing: Chlorine and Alternatives, Pool Filters, Pool Heaters, Pool Pumps and Pool Water Temperature.
6. Toilets: Composting Toilets, Dual Flush Toilets, Low Flow Toilets, Toilet Paper, Toilet Repair, Toilet Seats, and Waterless Toilets.
7. Water Filters: Countertop Water Filters, Filters vs. Bottled Water, In Refrigerator Water Filters, Shower Water Filters, Under Sink Water Filters, Water Coolers and Drinking Water Filters, and Whole House Water Filters.
8. Wells, Septic, and Greywater: Greywater Recycling, Greywater Septic Filters, Greywater Sump, Septic System Designs, Septic Systems, Septic Tanks, Water Well Pumps, and Water Wells.

Tips on Plumbing: Saving water is easier than you think. In America we use on average 100 gallons of water per day per household member. This is twice the volume as European counterparts. Over the summer, we each use up to 120 gallons per day, because the lawn care is factored in vs. over the winter when the average is closer to 80 gallons per day. To reduce your personal and household water consumption, here are a few tips…beyond turning the water off while you brush your teeth. For a little perspective.

1. A typical shower uses about 2.5 to 5 gallons per minute
2. A toilet uses 1.6 to 2.5 gallons per flush.
3. A typical bathroom sink uses 1 to 2 gallons per minute.

To conserve water in your home, here are some tips:

1. If your home was built before 1992 and the toilet has never been replaced, then it is very likely that you do not have a water efficient 1.6 gallon per flush toilet. You can check the date stamp inside the toilet by lifting the lid and looking at the back of the toilet at the manufacturer's imprint of the make, model and date of manufacture
2. Save even more with a Dual Flush toilet that uses less than a gallon for flushing liquid vs. solids.
3. If a toilet handle frequently sticks in the flush position and lets water run constantly, replace or adjust it.
4. Check the water faucet taps in your home to see if they all have aerators. An aerator mixes air with the water, which cuts the flow and reduces splashing.
5. Test each faucet by turning it off all the way off. If water continues to drip, make repairs.
6. Look for Energy Star Refrigerators, Microwaves, and Dishwaswhers if you are considering replacing existing units. They save water and electricity/natural gas.
7. Look for fixtures that use the new WaterSense marking from the Environmental Protection Agency.
8. Look into Water Filters vs. Bottles or home water coolers. The new generation of under counter filters delivers bottled water quality at pennies on the dollar.
9. Consider a greywater system where you can capture and filter used water from showers, sinks and faucets for flushing toilets or lawn irrigation.
10. Consider buying eco friendly cleaning products that come concentrated. You add the water on-site and save significant money and the environment benefits due to the reduced fuel used in shipping.
11. Save water by scraping dishes instead of rinsing them before loading in the dishwasher. Run your dishwasher with a full load and use the air-dry option if available. Rinsing dirty dishes before loading your dishwasher uses a lot of water and energy. Most dishwashers today can thoroughly clean dishes that have had food scraped, rather than rinsed, off — the wash cycle and detergent take care of the rest. To make the most efficient use of your dishwasher's energy and water consumption, run the dishwasher only when enough dirty dishes have accumulated for a full load.
12. Wash your laundry with cold water whenever possible. To save water, try to wash full loads or, if you must wash a partial load, reduce the level of water appropriately.
13. Bonus Tip: Try out toilet paper made from recycled content. Save over 400,000 trees, if each US household replaced just one typical roll of 500 sheets.

Home Improvement Basics:
When it comes to home improvement basics, look for interior home improvements like creating a clean, safe, and healthy home through sustainable ‘green’ furniture, home décor, zero VOC and Interior Paint, plus ENERGY STAR Appliances and Electronics. For energy and utility savings you can focus on insulation and air sealing, windows, doors, lighting and skylights, water saving plumbing opportunities, and high efficiency heating and air conditioning systems. On the outside of your house, look for exterior home improvement opportunities through landscape design and gardening plus solar energy, wind and other power sources. If you are undertaking a major home renovation, an additions, or building a new home, then take the lead to ‘go green’ in as many ways as possible to save money and the environment.